Flow control device



May 23, 1950 w. G. MILLER 2,508,793

FLOW CONTROL DEVICE Filed Oct. 2, 1948 INVENTOR.

We er 6. M1 52 Patented May 23,1950

tion ti' Pennsylvania t me; n ica ng nril @1947, Serial ;-No.

- 739,55 ne -ream No. 2,460,64'L; dated- Februar 1, 1949, Divided and this application Octob'l "2,1948g'STittl NT). 52,533

'8iGlaims. (Cl. 138- 43) "This invennen-=reiates generally tofiow por trol devices for -coi '1trolling the flow or *fiuid througha pipeline'which'varies in'pressure and temperature. "'This'apiil'icatidhus a division-of my Patent No; 2,466,647

"No devicehas"lieretofore'been'provided to contrbl thefibw bf fillid thlotlfiai pipe line which varied" greatly 'in'" temperature and pressure so that a substantially constant flowpf fluid-emi mated riom the whee-end thereof. "Resilient, cylind l'icail'l'y "Sha'pd members; having an a ertureexteriding aitiallythereof which is restricted on *arl'i' increasei'n pressure'haironly control the fiow'within very-vvideilmii especially in the higherpressure that "the"'central' aperture of the flow control member is directly in axial alignment" viith the 'inletand' the" outlet of th'e'flow control membenandbnlya very limited restrictiontakesplace. "when the'central portion of .a flowcontrol member "having ac'entral apertureflexes-downwardiy into-e, larger outlet apertu'r'e," the controlisflikewise'negligible' at higher pressures because the resilient member quickly reaches its maximum-restricted" position. These prior devices-become iatiguedvei'y quickly and where" temperatures vary an ap reciable amount, the central apertureswary-insize en-change in temperature-ther by making control practically impossible.

It is;aceordinglm'anpbjectcf-my invention to overcome "the abbve' and other defects in flow control device's and'iti's more particularly an object of my invention" to provide a flow control devicewhich is simple"inconstruction,"economical in cost, efiicient inope'ration,"and'economical in manufacture.

Another object ofmyinventionj is to provide a flow control device-in a..iluid line which controls the .qu'aiiti'ty'of ii'u'idpassing therethrough regardless of the variations-in pressure of the fluid.

Another object of my invention is to provide a fluid control device arm-1e linewhich permits maximum flow of fluid while controlling the quantity of..fiuidf.p'assing"from the line.

Another object of my invention is to provide aflow control device which has'a maximum usefulvli feeand which controls thefl'ow' of fluid over wide pressure changes.

Other objects of my invention will become evident from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a, flow control device illustrating a. preferred embodiment of my invention;

Fig; 2 is =e-p1an v ewpr-my'novei new eciitroi device shown in Fig. '1';

-Fig. 3 is a plan viewpfaninserrmeiiiber ror use in the flow control device shown in Fig. *1;

Fig; 4 is a'vertita'l setioii'al Viewtaken through the insert InemberofFigfB; v

Fig: 5 isa side erevatwnarview fofth'e'fiowcom trol washer used in liiynovel now-eontrerdeviee;

"F'igf'? isa vertiealse'etionerview showing my never new condor-washerdisposed ii'fflle ihs'er't member "shown'ili Figs. '3 "arid4;

Fig: eisavertieal eetiona1view"-6r-'the insert member with mynoverflow control wa'sher'd'i'sposed therein "the groove "therein Slightly restricted; and

' Fig. 9 is'a verticarsectionar view 6faniodified form of new contrormember.

Referringhow" to thedravtings, f show" irfFigs. 1 to 8 ine1usive,-'asiuustrativeof anelfibbdimflt of my invention,afliowontrolmember f'fo'rdiS- po'sal in a pipe line f'c'oni'prising"aicylindric'ally shapedbo'dy 2, an 'eizterriany threaded extension 3; having an outlet aperture'l, "an internally threaded portion f5 for threadably' engaging "a threaded adapter --s ha'ving a threade aperture 1 providirlgan inlet forthe fibw'of fluid into the flow "control member'fl. Anopen cup shaped insert member rohas a eentrarenre'rturef l1 tor alignment with the outlet 4 infio'w control member I. The insert niemberio is disposed in the flow control member I asshewn inFig, l. Aliat, cyli'ndrically 'sliapediesil'ieii't member I3 having a rectangular shaped groove f4 isdis'posed over the aperture l l in the insert member In to control the flow of fluid passing from thei'nlet to the outlet lbf the flow'control'm'eniber I. 'I'he in: sert'member I [I has the upper wall portion "i5 thereof cut away at Hi to permit the lateral flow o'f'fiuidfrom the inlet Ttopa'ss around the outer side of the re'silientmenibe'r 'rstnrcugh th erddve l4 andinto' the aperture ll tcthe'oiitleflfl. The aperture II is preferably made of a sufficie'ntly tioiial areanf trieeroove If in fihe're'silie'r'it mem her: I 3' to pe'rm'it" free "'flow'of fluid 'thereth'foufgh. The 'ie'silie'fit member! 3"iS preferabivma'de '6f"a flexible resilient material such as rubber although any suitable resilient material may be used.

In operation, the flow control member I is threadably engaged with suitable piping, the inlet pipe attached to the threaded aperture 1 and the outlet pipe threadably attached to the threaded extension 3. A fluid passes downwardly through the inlet aperture 1 against the upper side of the resilient member I3 wherein it passes laterally outwardly around the member l3 and through the groove M to the aperture H in the insert member l and then to the outlet 4 of the flow controlmember I. As the pressure increases, the grooved portion M of the resilient member 13 is compressed and the cross-sectional area thereof is restricted as shown in Fig. 8 to provide a barrier to the flow of fluid therethrough. It has been found that the flow of fluid through a fluid line can be controlled by my novel flow control device so that the quantity of fluid passing therefrom does not vary any substantial amount upon passage of a comparatively large volume of fluid even though the variations in the pressure of the fluid may be from two pounds per square inch to two hundred pounds per square inch.

Although the flow control member I in Fig. 1 is shown with an insert member ID disposed therein, it will be evident that it may be elimihated and the resilient member l3 disposed directly over the outlet aperture l to produce the same result.

In Fig. 9, I show a modified form of the resilient member l3 shown in Fig. 1 wherein a cylindrical shaped elastic resilient member 20 has the bottom side thereof formed with an inverted crown 2| with a flattened portion 22 for seating over the outlet aperture 23 of a flow control member 24. Radially extending grooves 25 are formed in the crown 2! leading to the outlet 23 of the flow control member 24. In the operation of resilient member 20, the outer peripheral portions thereof are forced progressively downwardly while the pressure in the line is comparatively low to gradually decrease the size of the grooves 25 to restrict them to the flow of fluid therethrough to the outlet 23. After the outer peripheral portion of the washer 20 has been forced downwardly a predetermined amount, the grooves 25 in the member 20 restrict upon an increase in pressure to further restrict the flow of fluid as has been heretofore described for the resilient member i3 shown in Fig. 5.

From the'foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a novel flow control device which controls the quantity of fluid passing from a pipe line regardless of the changes of pressure of the fluid within practical limits and I further provide a flow control device with no moving parts and with a minimum of wearing parts.

Various changes may be made in the specific embodiment of my invention without departing from the spirit thereof or from the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A flow control device for varying pressure fluids comprising a member having an outlet aperture, and a resilient member for disposal over said aperture having a laterall extending grooved passage leading to said aperture adapted to be restricted upon increase in the pressure of the fluid.

2. A flow control device for varying pressure fluids comprising a member having an inlet and an outlet aperture, said outlet aperture having a shoulder adjacent thereto, and a resilient member disposed over said outlet aperture having radially outwardly extending grooved passages leading to said aperture adapted to be restricted upon increase in pressure of the fluid passing through said member for controlling the quantity of fluid passing therethrough.

3. A flow control device for varying pressure fluids comprising a member having an inlet and an outlet aperture, an insert member disposed over said outlet aperture having a central aperture for alignment with said outlet aperture, and a resilient member for disposal over the said aperture in said insert member having a grooved passage therein for controlling the quantity of fluid passing through said member.

4. A flow control device for varying pressure fluids comprising a member having an inlet and an outlet aperture, an insert member disposed over said outlet aperture having a central aperture for alignment with said outlet aperture, said insert member being cup-shaped in form and having portions of the sides thereof cut away, and a resilient member for disposal over said aperture in said insert member having a diametrically extending groove for the passage of fluid to said outlet aperture, the cross-sectional area or said grooved passage being restricted to the flow of fluid upon increases in the pressure of said fluid.

5. A flow control device comprising a member having an outlet aperture, and a resilient member for disposal over said aperture having a grooved passage for the flow of fluid to said outlet aperture adapted to be restricted upon an increase in the pressure of the fluid passing through said member.

6. A flow control device comprising a member having an outlet aperture and a resilient member for disposal over said aperture having an inverted crowned portion with a grooved passage for the flow of fluid to said outlet aperture adapted to be restricted upon an increase in the pressure of the fluid passing through said member.

I. A flow control device as set forth in claim 6 wherein the bottom portion of said inverted crown is flattened to provide a seat for seating over the outlet aperture of said member.

8. A new control device for varying pressure fluids comprising a member having an outlet aperture and a resilient elastic member having an inverted crowned portion for disposal over said aperture, said crowned portion having a laterally extending grooved passage leading to said aperture adapted to be restricted upon the deflection of the outer peripheral portion of said resilient member and adapted to be further restricted after the maximum downward deflection of the outer peripheral portion of said resilient member.

WESLEY G. MILLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the flle of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,964,300 Perry et al. June 26, 1934 2,460,647 Miller -m Feb. 1, 1949 

